“Below the Line: The Changing Face of American Poverty”, the provocative series featured on the Tavis Smiley Radio Show, has profiled a vast range of people living at or below the poverty line in the United States. The series has critically examined what it looks like to be poor in America today, by telling stories as varied as the young, African American, single mother of two children who lost her job at Enron only to find herself making less than $10,000 a year as a nursing assistant; a young married couple, graduate student and carpenter, trying their best to sustain a family of five on the land by growing a community garden; and the Ethiopian immigrant working full time at a meat packing plant, and part time as a child care provider in rural Minnesota.

Angela Glover Blackwell frames each installment from a public policy perspective, while respective experts offer insight and strategic solutions for the foreclosure crisis, living wage, inadequate health care, homelessness, transitional housing, and ex-offender re-entry, along with other issues faced by a growing number of Americans.

Now you can catch the entire series right here on EquityBlog:

Episode One
The series begins with Terreal Grant of Baltimore who is coming out of poverty and drug addiction with help from the Thompson Mobility Program [PDF].

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Two
The second installment features Cici Youngblood, a college graduate who describes her path to poverty as “riches to rags” and Jeff Page, a former DJ who went from fame to a downward spiral into homelessness after cancer. Both profiles illustrate how poverty is compounded by health and how successful programs (e.g. Rainbow Apartments) in Los Angeles’s Skid Row community work to meet these challenges.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Three
Reporter James Mills shares the story of Abeba Adella of Minnesota. Originally from Ethiopia, Abeba left an abusive husband, raises two children alone, and works two jobs to barely avoid poverty.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Four
From Augusta, Georgia, reporter Charles Edwards speaks with two residents who struggle with less than the federal minimum wage. Richard Sparrow suffered a back injury and was shunned by employers as an insurance liability. Unemployed since 1996, Richard lives on less than 700 dollars a month, over half of which goes to medicine. Sunny Johnson, a former Enron employee, describes the sacrifices she makes with her wages from her day and night jobs.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Five
New Orleans producer Eve Abrams brings us the story of Vanessa Nevilles, who is struggling to find a job with health insurance, and Keith Carter who was shunned from employment after an arrest and a lengthy legal battle.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Six
Executive Producer Cheryl Flowers visits Mississippi to find two stories of poverty in small rural communities. Mississippi is home to one of the highest concentrations of poverty in America.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Wrap Up
Dr. Cynthia Duncan, Founding Director of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire and Alan Jenkins, Executive Director of the Opportunity Agenda, joins Tavis Smiley and Angela Glover Blackwell for the series wrap up and analysis.

[53 minutes | MP3]

Audio courtesy of The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI. Check your local listings for more from Tavis Smiley.

An intern for San Francisco’s Literacy for Environmental Justice wrote a heartrending and hopeful op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle last week. La Constance “Connie” Shahid has lived in SF’s Bayview-Hunters Point community all of her 21 years. Here she is describing what it’s like to grow up in a forgotten neighborhood:

Let me tell you what it’s like to live in the Bayview. In six square miles, we have hundreds of toxic sites and the highest pollution emissions in the city. Thirty percent of my community is under the age of 21, more than in any other part of the city. We are twice as likely to be hospitalized from asthma as other city residents; there are increased rates of diabetes, as well as breast and cervical cancer.

It seems like there is a liquor store on every corner, housing is rundown, drugs are everywhere, police sirens are constantly racing down the streets, and gang violence is nearly inescapable. Having to be cautious of which streets to walk on and which to avoid isn’t a way to live freely. It’s a way to live in fear.

Too many of my peers live and die with the fantasy of “ghetto life”; they dream of big homes, fast cars, and a multi-million dollar jewelry collection. We know that we’re not offered the best in life, but we make do with what we have, and some of us are fighting to make it better. A few of us, the ones hiding in dark corners, have dreams that take us to universities like Howard, Fisk, and Texas Southern. These young people are working hard to make their dreams come true, so that they won’t have to worry about living their lives in fear.

Please take the time to read the whole article. Also, the insightful and innovative folks at Think MTV did a short video feature on Connie and the rest of the youth at Literacy for Environmental Justice. Check it out:

This AP Investigative story is simply stunning:

Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients.

Nine low-income families in Baltimore row houses agreed to let researchers till the sewage sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In exchange, they were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as part of a study published in 2005 and funded by the Housing and Urban Development Department. (emphasis mine)

A similar study was also conducted in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The health dangers of living in low-income communities aren’t always so blatant or intentionally inflicted, though. The PolicyLink Center for Health and Place is a great source of information and strategies on how to build and lift up healthier communities.

Justin, from the new Chicago start-up nonprofit MoveSmart.org, noted in the comments of an earlier post on the new Tesco Fresh and Easy small supermarkets moving into low-income neighborhoods that there are some other chains trying to bring low-cost food to these neighborhoods. He writes:

In Chicago there’s a network of Aldi stores. They are a German chain that offers very cheap groceries (sometimes 50% of what you find in the major chain stores) and have locations in many impacted neighborhoods. Aldi stores, however, have a large footprint and can’t be easily inserted into existing retail space. I hope that Tesco plans to come to Chicago and try some infill - there’s a number of food deserts around the city that could use it!

In the meantime, there are some folks here working to get fresh fruits and veggies into ‘corner stores’ - http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/2008/04/11/big_bodega_love/

As a former Chicagoan myself (and sometime-Aldi shopper) I concur with Justin’s critique that the Aldi’s footprint is too big to work in some of these communities. The prices are pretty incredible, though.

Also, take the time to check out the fledgling MoveSmart.org site. They’re trying something pretty cool. Here’s part of their mission statement:

Until now, information on neighborhoods has been buried in the back of academic reports, pinned to community center bulletin boards, and locked in data sets only available to planners, inaccessible to those who would benefit from it the most: housing seekers looking for a better neighborhood. MoveSmart.org will leverage the power of this information by combining these and other data sources into a single mapping engine built into a full-featured site that includes guides, tools, calculators, forums, and social networks, all designed to foster racial and economic integration.

And here’s a video explaining why they’re doing what they do (set to one of the best horn samples around, “Make the Road by Walking” by Menahan Street Band)

Britain’s mega-supermarket chain Tesco has begun trying to ingratiate itself into the US with a dramatically different marketing scheme. Rather than focus on the massive, 50,000-square-foot supermarket strategy of traditional American chains, Tesco has started building about 60 smaller “Fresh and Easy” stores in LA, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The idea is to put these smaller stores — roughly 10,000 square feet — directly into low- and moderate-income communities, to give residents a place nearby to buy fresh, organic food often for a fraction of the cost. So far, the response has been mixed from customers, who are unfamiliar with the tiny stores and their relatively bland interiors.

But as PolicyLink president Judith Bell writes in a letter in today’s edition of USA Today, equity advocates should applaud any private sector effort to bring fresh and healthy foods into underserved neighborhoods:

The arrival of the United Kingdom grocery chain Tesco in the USA is a welcome sign that the private sector is waking up to the harmful void of fresh foods in our low-income communities (”British Invasion hits grocery stores,” Cover story, Money, Monday).

Too many poor communities lack a supermarket or any other place to buy fresh food. Residents are forced to make do with the preservative-laden and sugar-heavy foods at their local convenience stores or fast food outlets. Is it a surprise that low-income communities are hardest hit with the nation’s obesity and diabetes crises? Tesco’s plan for small stores in low-income communities won’t solve America’s health woes on its own. But getting fresh foods into the hands of all people is a great step in that direction.

For more information on how to encourage healthy food choices in your community, check out the PolicyLink report “Healthy Food, Healthy Communities”

(Photo by Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY)

The timing could not be better for the launch of the landmark PBS documentary
Unnatural Causes – Is Inequality Making us Sick?, a four-part series that sheds light on the critical importance of economics, race and class on health outcomes.

The documentary (which I helped advise) skillfully portrays the vast disparities in health and overall quality of life between families with wealth and those clinging to the middle and lower rungs of the economic ladder.

The more money you have, the better your health. This powerful and vital message is at the heart of the series and helped spur the creation of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place, which I direct.

More resources and insights below the fold….

(more…)

Tune in TONIGHT to PBS for the premiere of a seven-part series, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”

1. The first part of the series, “In Sickness and In Wealth,” which airs tonight at 10 pm EST, travels to Louisville, Kentucky to explore how social class shapes opportunities for good health. According to the installment “the U.S. has the greatest income inequality – and the worst health.” The episode also takes a look at Louisville’s innovative Center for Health Equity, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between members of the community, government, private business, and health-care organizations—all focused on the social conditions that underlie opportunities for health and wellbeing.

Watch a preview clip here:

Where you live determines how you live.

“Health Care State Rankings 2008,” by independent publisher CQ Press, has named Mississippi the most unhealthy state in America, followed by last year’s dubious winner, Louisiana.

According to the report on AOL.com, “Mississippi has the highest rate of teenage births in the nation, the highest infant mortality rate and the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases. It also has the largest percentage of obese adults and adults who do not exercise.” Interestingly, the country seems divided by regions; the top unhealthiest cities are mostly in the South or West while the healthiest cities tend to be in the Northeast or Midwest.

Unhealthiest States

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. New Mexico
4. Nevada
5. Florida

Healthiest States

1. Minnesota
2. New Hampshire
3. Vermont
4. Maine
5. Massachusetts

PolicyLink believes that where you live determines how well you live; and available resources are not always equally distributed. Furthermore, communities of color and low-income communities often deal with issues of poverty and economic disinvestment, that compromise individual and community health. For more information on these issues, check out: “Why Place Matters: Building a Movement for Healthy Communities,” (pdf) a report by PolicyLink and The California Endowment, which provides an interesting framework that further explains the relationship between community conditions and health.

The Delaware News-Journal has an interesting op-ed today about the impact of the built environment on our health. Written by two leaders at Nemours Health and Prevention Services, the piece looks at how better community planning, more park space, and easier access to healthy food stores can help families craft a truly healthy lifestyle.

Remember a time when you walked to school? Or played with friends outside for hours after dinner?

Maybe you even stayed outside for awhile after it got dark just to squeeze in a few more minutes of shooting hoops, playing catch or riding your bike.

Today, many of our kids do not have this experience.

Many factors in our communities prevent them from being active outside. Traffic, neighborhood safety concerns, and the lack of nearby parks or playgrounds are just a few.

For more information and resources on how to make your community more healthy, please visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place.

A new study in the journal Health Affairs says black and Latino children are more than 12 times as likely as white children to live in “double jeopardy”—to be poor and to live in neighborhoods with limited opportunity. The study argues that public health policies should:

“improve access to opportunity-rich neighborhoods through enhanced housing mobility, and increase the opportunities for healthy living in disadvantaged neighborhoods.”

The article is included in the March/April 2008 issue that focuses on health disparities and is based on results from studies of neighborhood opportunity in 100 metropolitan areas.

Some facts from the article:

• Nearly 17 percent of African-American children and 20.5 percent of Latino children live in “double jeopardy,” compared to 1.4 percent of white children
• The typical poor white child lives in a neighborhood where the poverty rate is 13.6 percent; for the African-American and Latino child, the rate is nearly 30 and 26 percent respectively
• Differences between African-American and white children were most pronounced in Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans, Chicago, and Birmingham, Alabama
• Disparities between Latino and white children were most blatant in the communities of McEllen, El Paso, and San Antonio, Texas; and Los Angeles and Fresno, California

Problems and solutions to issues related to neighborhood opportunity and health were just some of the hot topics discussed at Regional Equity 08. We heard about the New Orleans Food and Farm Network and other efforts across the country that are helping low-income community residents find good food close to home. Can anyone recommend other articles or organizations focused on this work?